Research and consulting firm dentsu announces the results of its research measuring attention in audio advertising that was conducted in partnership with Lumen Research and with audio firms Audacy, Cumulus Media, iHeartMedia, Spotify and SXM Media. Dentsu measured attention in various audio formats and environments across three unique studies in podcasts, radio and music streaming. The podcast study was conducted with participating partners Audacy, Cumulus Media, iHeartMedia, Spotify and SXM Media. The radio study was conducted with Audacy, Cumulus Media, and iHeartMedia. The study found that audio advertising (including podcasts, radio and music streaming) drove significant attention compared to other ad platforms: 1) Average attentive seconds per (000) APM for audio advertising was 10,126 compared to dentsu norms of 6,501 APM; 2) On average, 41% of audio ads generated correct brand recall (vs. 38% of dentsu norms); and 3) Brand choice uplift for audio ads was 10% (vs. 6% for dentsu norms). The study also found that each audio destination has its own unique strength in driving attention and brand impact: 1) Podcasts (measured across Audacy, Cumulus Media, iHeartMedia, Spotify and SXM Media) drove the highest attentive seconds per thousand impressions compared to other digital, social and TV benchmarks. In addition, we saw that brand choice uplift was higher for host reads compared to traditional audio ads within podcasts; and 2) Radio (measured across Audacy, Cumulus Media and iHeartMedia) also impressively drove higher attentive seconds per thousand impressions compared to other digital, social and TV benchmarks. Radio shined as the most efficient of the audio formats studied, proving to be 10x more efficient when compared to the average online video ads measured through dentsu’s Attention Economy. Dentsu Media US EVP Jennifer Hungerbuhler states, “We understand that radio advertising is a cost-efficient way to build reach, that podcast listeners have great affinity not only to the programming but also podcast hosts, and that smart speakers are a compelling new destination for audio ads on streaming services. It’s nice to see each of these unique strengths of different audio formats validated by our audio Attention Economy Study.”
